Investment in Mental Health Must be a Priority in Health Accord says CAMIMH

-FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE-

OTTAWA (December 15, 2016) The Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health (CAMIMH) is encouraged to see federal, provincial and territorial Ministers of Finance and Health meet on December 19th to discuss issues related to a possible Health Accord. Only through committed partnership and collaboration can sustainable transformation of the health system occur.

As part of this process, CAMIMH strongly recommends that investments to improve access to mental health services must be a part of a health accord. “The time is now to invest in mental health services,” said Chris Summerville, CAMIMH Co-Chair. “We can’t afford not to provide long-term investments that can improve the mental health of Canadians.”

Investments to mental health services can play an important role in improving access to care, health outcomes, and Canadians’ many contributions to civil society.

“CAMIMH – representing Canadians with mental illness, their families and caregivers, and professional organizations – stands ready to work with governments to improve the mental health of Canadians,” said Lisa Crawley, CAMIMH Co-Chair. “There is no health, without mental health.”

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For more information on CAMIMH’s recently released report Mental Health Now!, which identifies a five-point plan

for the federal government to improve access to mental health services, go to www.camimh.ca.

Established in 1998, the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health (CAMIMH) is an alliance of mental health organizations comprised of health care providers and organizations representing persons with mental illness and their families and caregivers. CAMIMH’s mandate is to ensure that mental health is placed on the national agenda so that persons with a lived experience of mental illness and their families receive appropriate access to care and support.